Tenancy Management Policy May 2024

22. Personal property and insurance

The Council is obliged to hold buildings insurance for its tenanted properties but does not obtain insurance which covers the tenant's contents of properties. Tenants should obtain insurance covering all their personal belongings and the decorations of the property.

Tenants are required to sign to confirm their understanding of this requirement at the point of the tenancy commencing. The Council work with Aon who provide a very competitive tenant insurance package. The availability of this product is communicated to tenants regularly at tenancy sign up, during home visits, via tenant newsletters and our website.

The Council will not be responsible for loss or damage to any personal property unless the damage or loss is caused by the Council's own negligence - see the Compensation Policy for further information.

23. Social housing fraud

The Council's approach to fraud prevention is to comply with the Regulatory Framework and take action to prevent fraud by ensuring that our housing stock is only occupied by those with a legal right to be in residence.

The Council will investigate all reports of suspected tenancy fraud using all the enforcement tools available including civil and criminal remedies and the repossession of the property where tenancy fraud is proven. The Council will actively pursue any potential tenancy fraud in cases including:

• Sub-letting without permission from the Council
• Unauthorised assignment (including by mutual exchange)
• Wrongly claimed succession
• Right-to-buy fraud
• Obtaining a tenancy by false statement or knowingly withholding relevant information; and not using the property as an only or principal home
• In the case of successful criminal or civil action, the Council may actively publicise the result in order to deter further tenancy fraud.

Regardless of the type of tenancy offered photographs will be taken at tenancy sign up of all tenancy holders and added to our housing management system to tackle tenancy fraud.